


Katie in the Tanabata Festival

by PidgeLettaConChetta



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender, vld - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 14:03:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12509084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PidgeLettaConChetta/pseuds/PidgeLettaConChetta
Summary: Katie and her boyfriend go  on a trip to Japan to see one of the many festivals he grew up with.





	Katie in the Tanabata Festival

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this to be honest. I learned a lot about Japan and one of there many Festivals. 
> 
> I do encourage you as well researching one of them, as they are are a lot of fun to read about.

To say Katie was excited for this trip would be the understatement of the century. It was the first not computer related thing she was excited about in almost three years, and her parents were more than gracious enough to let her go, along with her boyfriend, Takeshi Shirogane, aka Shiro, to go with her and make sure she didn’t get lost. It was the Tanabata Festival, honoring two literal star cross lovers and the one the of the year they could meet and be to together. They were going to the one if Kyoto, Japan, as Shiro knew that area much more than others. 

Katie had planned everything out when her parents said that she could go: figuring out the perfect day to fly out, the hotel, where to get there outfits, she of course had to get traditional yukata to get a feel for the festival, when they would make their wishes and hang to, to when they would light the paper lanterns and set them free down the river banks. She had planned everything to the exact dot and time.

Now, here she and Shiro were, waiting to land in Osaka then rent a car and drive the hour long drive to Kyoto, in the Kyoto Prefecture of Japan. Katie could hardly wait to land, Shiro as well, but because he was glad to come home after many years, and now he could show Katie, someone who he cared so much for, his home and his favorite time of year. He was the reason the girl wanted to look it up, which was both a blessing and a curse as it lead to so many questions and her looking down at her phone or at her laptop all the time. 

“So, Shiro, what’s your favorite part of the festival?” The girl asked, cause Shiro to look at her a think for a moment. 

“I think writing the wishes on the tanzaku and hanging them on the bamboo tree. What are you excited for, Katie?” Shiro was the one of the few people who got to call Katie, Katie everyone else called her Pidge.

“All of it, Shiro. This is the one day of the year that weaver princess named Orihime and a cow herder prince named Hikoboshi get to be reunited. I just hope it doesn’t ran, or they have to wait another whole year!” Katie truly was enthusiastic about it, and it could not only been heard but seen in her eyes. The pure glee and excitement that painted her eyes could not go unnoticed, even by those who didn’t know her. 

“You did your research.”

“Of course I did! It was once a chinese festival, brought to the Japanese by Empress Kōken in 755. It originated from ‘The Festival to Plead for Skill’, then mixed with the Obon Festival, till it then become today’s Tanabata festival.” Katie was hurt by her friend’s statement, but she didn’t dare say it, why would she need too? She knew he was teasing, but it still hurt. 

“You know, the fact that you planned this whole trip and I’m supposed to be like the leader our group is very surprising. I think it's appropriate even Keith was taken back by it.” The brunette couldn’t help but burst out laughing from his statement. It had been true nonetheless though, as the mullet haired boy looked at the short girl with such surprise, it was as if Allura was just dreamed up, which would probably had literally killed him on the inside.

The plane started descending, and they fastened their seatbelts, leaning back, Their fifteen hour plus plane ride was finally almost over, but they still need to get through security and baggage claim, which was often often the worse part of going through airports. For them, it by pretty quickly. Katie had managed to bring all of her luggage in two carryons, and Takeshi had one sent under and one in carry on. 

The weaved their way through the crowd, Katie almost losing Shiro in the process, but she was quickly found and they continued on there way. Once they got out, they found a place to rent cars, ending up with a black Acura ZDX, and off they went. 

She didn’t notice it at first, how tired she had become, but she fell asleep almost twenty minutes into the car ride and they were moving. She slept peacefully, dreaming of all the fun the would have in the festival. 

When Katie awoke, she didn’t know where she was. She looked around, then sat up and saw Shiro in a bed next to her own sleeping, then looked around again and took note that they were in a hotel.The curtains had been closed, so she couldn’t quite quite tell if it was day or night till she look at her phone later. She got out of bed, getting some clean clothes and went to take a shower. It was warm and she could feel herself relax a bit, not realizing that the airport at made her tense up.

Once out, she quickly got dressed and combed her wet mess of hair, then divided it into three parts and braided it messily, then went to look for her phone. She didn’t want to turn on a light as it would wake Shiro, which in turn ended with her stumbling around and almost running into a table, but she found her phone hidden in the depths of her backpack. 10:05am. She wasn't sure what time they had landed, but she knew it had been early. 

She sat back on the bed, pulling up her backpack to find the her plan for today, though she had a digital copy, she also write it down on paper so she would have a hard copy in her hands. 

After a moment or two, she decided to creep into Shiro’s bed and cuddle with him a bit. They were completely alone, so she could now call him Takeshi, which she love to do more than anything, but she promised to only do it when alone. She scooted off her bed, and made her way to Shiro, going onto the side he facing and went under the blankets half way and pulled his close. He reacted to her touch by nuzzling it, as if he had come to recognize her touch completely, though he most likely had. She laughing softly, then began running a hand through his white and black locks of hair. 

She continued doing so for at least ten minutes, till she felt a pair of eyes looking at her. She glanced down and saw that Takeshi was watching her. He didn’t saw anything, just pulled her into his arms and down so she could bury her head in his chest, which she did, causing him to chuckle a bit and run a hand through her hair. 

“Copycat.” She mumbled, meaning for him to hear her.

“What did you plan for us to day now?” He asked, ignoring her comment and glancing down at her. 

“At eleven I wanted us to go look for around Kyoto and find a restaurant to eat at. But we could skip it.” Though she wanted to follow her schedule, she was much to comfy now to get up and leave. 

“No, I should show you around. Rather not loose you in the crowd.” 

“I’m not that easy to loose!” She glared at him, and sat up, only to pulled back down into his arms, and couldn’t get out of his grip. After a few seconds she stopped struggling and let a heavy huff, crossing her arms.

“Glad to see your out on pants on for this...you usually prefer staying back if it involves pants.” 

“Are you just now noticing how much I have been wanting to this and what measures I will take for this? This is one of the rare times I will actually do something that involves putting on pants and wearing clean clothes. Plus, I will be technically wearing a dress at the actually festival.” 

“That is true. Common, let's get going.” He sat up, bringing Pidge with him. Said girl got off his lap, and started to under her braid, as she only kept it braided till it fully dried, and Shiro went to go Shiro. Once he was done with that, they grabbed the car keys and went out to look for a restaurant to eat at, while Shiro pointed out place to go and see, which he just needed to point out and Pidge would name it.

“The ward we’re in is the Kamigyō-ku ward of Kyoto, and the festival will be held at the Kamo River. The ward is home to Kyoto Imperial Palace, the Kitano Tenmangu Shinto shrine, the Seimei Shrine, Nishijin-ori textiles, and the headquarters of the Omotesenke and Urasenke schools of Japanese tea ceremony as well.” Shiro nodded to confirm what Pidge had just said. 

“Let’s get something to eat first, then go to the Imperial Palace.” 

“Where should we eat?”

“Horin Marutamachi. It’s close to the palace and has incredible ramen.” At that, Pidge was hooked. After they finished, they decide to walk to the palace. It was beautiful, but the short girl was more than disappointed that shouldn’t go inside, so half her grumbling, which sounded to Shiro like she was planning to sneak into it, and the other half was admiring the structure and listening to the story.

Once they finished that, they decided to go to the the Kitano Tenmangu Shinto shrine, then drive back to the hotel. Katie was able to go in, and watch a few ladies make prayers to god it was for, finding out later is was actually but for an angry spirit who had gotten exiled for political reasons. She wished they were staying longer than the tenth so she could go to the flea market, but both she and Shiro had school to get back too.

The drive back was mostly silent, again, but this time they didn’t mind. They decided they didn’t particularly want to go out for dinner, so they just ordered in from the place that looked good and watched movies.

When morning came, Shiro was the first one up, taking a quick shower before going to wake up up Katie so she could get one. She was grumpy at first, and didn’t want to, but a peck on the lips and a promise that would get fast food and she was up and into the shower. 

“You know..most people are grumpy with less sleep. You're the opposite of that.”

“Well of course, Takeshi. What else do you expect?” They both laughed at that, and headed down stairs to get breakfast. Katie getting a simple bowl of rice and eggs and Shiro just getting a slice of toast and a cup of coffee.

Today, they would be getting yukatas for the both of them and a kanzashi for Katie, as she would put her hair up into a neat bun, which was surprising to Shiro. After that, they would go back to the hotel, drop everything off, and just walk around the town, maybe find where the river was. Tomorrow would be the day of the festival, and Katie was already trying to think of what her wish would be. She wondered if Takeshi had figured his out already. 

Once they finished, Katie took the keys this time, as she wanted to drive, even if she didn't know her way around that well, she had the GPS, and Shiro. Shiro would probably be better. She did miss a few turns, and almost blew her lid, but they made it to the shop in less than an hour, 

The shop they went to had yukata all over: on shelves, on the floor, or on mannequins to be shown off and what it would look like. Obis of different kinds were already picked and wrapped to match with the yukatas. Every few yukatas had getas placed with them, though the only thing that differed between them all was the part that separate the big toe from the others and socks with them. Almost all the socks were white though. 

Katie picked up a white one that hand black, bright green, and lavender flowers on the bottom, and petals that flew up and went all over the sleeves. It was a small one, but she knew it would most likely fit her pretty well, and it came with getas, but they looked rather smaller so she left them there. Shiro picked out a black kimono and that had white and purple dragons all over the sleeves and towards the opening of it. Luckily, his getas seemed to be the right size for him. 

“Can we try these on?” Shiro shook his head no. 

“You need to know your size. That one seems about right for you. Find some geta and socks, then we will go look at the kanzashis, then I will drive us back to set them in the room.” She rolled her eyes when he said he would drive back and went to look at the other getas and socks, picking a pair. 

She found her kanzashis rather easily as it the first one she saw: a white pin with hanging lavender and green flowers hanging off it. She asked for it, then they went to pay, which turned out to be much more than she had first calculated it to be. Way more than 89,000 yen. She felt bad, but Takeshi reassured her that it was ok, so she picked herself up a bit more. 

The next day, Katie woke up at actually 8:00 am and was the first to shower, taking an extra long one just to make she didn't have frayed hair that was hard to tame, and a not so tired looking expression. She combed her hair for once as well, but couldn't get through half of it without waking Shiro to help her finish it. It was indeed, a real rats nest. When that finished, Takeshi hopped into the shower and Katie started to dry her hair with the towel, then grabbed another towel just to double check it was completely dry. 

She then died her best to put it up in a bun, but she only got aggravated with her hair, mumbling how this was why she never did her hair, and pulled her back, sticking the kanzashi in to keep it in place. She then slipped on a pair of shorts, and tank top to wear under her yukata, then slipped on the socks, then started putting on her Yukata, but waited for Shiro to help her tie it. She hated having to be dependent on him, but it seems she might need to just this once. When he finally came out, she came up to him and made him help her, earning a laugh from him, but he did do it. He asked to help her with his hair bit she denied, saying it looked fine. 

After what seemed like an hour of Shiro getting ready, they left. 

When they made it too the festival, Pidge let out a huge gasp, looking at all the stalls, the trees, and all the people walking around in yukatas or kimonos, with parasols, and all sorts of different treats. Bamboos were already decorated with streamers and wishes from all the kids and adults, decorations were hung everywhere, barely anything was without it. 

She walked around a bit, looking from each stall to another, peering in what they had, and watching people walk around, it amazed her, almost. As if she was having a dream, but she knew she wasn't when she noticed Shiro smiling at her, though she honestly if it was a dream, that it should never end. 

Maybe that should be here wish. To have the happiness never end? No, that was too cheesy, something Lance would wish for, or even her brother Matt. She wasn’t one to be cheesey. Besides, it was just a festival. No need to get that sentimental over it, she would always remember it. 

“Where first, Pidge?” His voice caught her off guard, but she quickly regained her composure, turning towards him. 

“I want to see when the decoration completion it. Then can we go make a wish and hang it on the bamboo trees?” The taller of the two nodded, holding out his hand for her to take it and lead the way to look for an information stall. She stayed close for the most part, but the scent of peanut butter from some stall distracted her for a moment or two, and he had to go fetch her. She wasn’t embarrassed the slightest, just wanted some peanut butter now, or maybe peanut butter cookies. Both were good. 

When they found the booth, they found the competition wasn't for another three hours, then they asked if Katie would like to join the Miss Tanabata pageant. Once it was translated to her, she immediately declined it and went to look for where they would make wishes. Takeshi caught up to the brunette quickly, Katie blamed his long legs, and lead her to a little set by the river, that had bamboo surrounding it, and kids either making their wish or hanging it on the bamboo. 

They sat down, and while Shiro instantly got to work, most likely writing his in poem form and in kanji -which Pidge could never do-, Pidge stared at blank tanzaku for a few moments. Finally she picked up her brush, and decided that now was ok to be a little cheesey, it wasn't like she was going to have to tell her tall boyfriend her wish. She could make up a lie, maybe, he saw through her most of the time. 

I wish for more moments like this in the future. Where I take interest in something that is completely different from my normal ways. 

Once she finished writing it, she blew on it so it would dry a little faster, then looked up to find Shiro hanging his. She wanted her’s high up in the tree, which would involve being hosted up onto the tall man’s shoulders, and she hated that. 

“Hey Shiro…” she could feel her cheeks heating up as he looked over at her, “would you pick me up so I can hang my wish up high…” She look away from him, not wanting to see his reaction, but she somehow knew he had nodded. She felt herself being picked up, but she held back any reaction she might make, and quickly hung up her wish. 

“Got it?” 

“...Yea.” She was put down, letting her regain some composure back, then looked back up at him. “Anywhere you wish to go too?” 

“No. Why don’t we play games for a while?” 

“Sounds fun!” And it was. Turns out, Shiro is amazing at carnival games, Katie learned pretty fast too, so they went against each other with some of them, like popping the balloons, or shooting a toy gun at glass bottles for a teddy bear. By the time the decoration competitor came up, they had won five teddy bears - three small, one medium, and one huge one - two bags of sweets, which neither of them didn't particularly want but planned could bring back with them, and a few little trinkets that Katie wanted to toy with. 

Once they got to the competition, Katie and Takeshi both decided to join, but not working as a team. Takeshi made a paper kimono and decorated it with all sorts of elaborate designs, while Katie somehow ended making an origami computer, even thought it was technically against the rule to do something that, though creative. It didn't win, and neither did Shiro’s but they had fun. 

Once that was over, Takeshi had he try some dangos, all of them mixed flavors. She rather liked them, and asked for a few more to eat while they walked around the festival. They stumbled upon a booth that sold little novelty items and decided to by some survivors for their friends. 

Allura was getting handmade earrings that were little dangling fans, Hunk; an actually fan, painted to look like the Tanabata story. Keith would receive a parcel, Pidge's idea of a joke, Lance:a pair of earrings as well, only these ones where studs and had stars all over it. Matt would get a little handbook of different myths and legends from the surround area. Coran got the same thing as Matt, only, for a different area. 

They decided to drop everything off at the car, and go to walk along the river after that. It was peaceful, and more that just beautiful, so why not? 

Katie took Shiro’s hand as she walked, smiling to herself. She was happy she came, and happy her boyfriend knew the land and took her sightseeing, God knows where she might have ended up without some kind of guidance. 

“Hey, Katie?” 

“Yea Shiro?” 

“Did I tell you how beautiful you look today?” Katie blushed, but shook her head no. “Well, you are. I quite like the yukata on you.”

“You were the one who told me about the festival. I would have never know it existed if it were for you.”

“True.” After that, Katie stood in her tiptoes, and Shiro bent down and gave each other a kiss. A sweet one at that.


End file.
